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Some warming shelters at capacity as cold weather settles in

ROCK HILL, S..C — Temperatures are expected to plummet well below freezing Tuesday night. Because of the cold weather, homeless shelters in the area have already seen an increase in people showing up and they expect bigger crowds.

In Rock Hill, the Salvation Army serves as a women's warming shelter. There are nine women staying there now.  The men's shelter, about one mile away, is overflowing.

Iris Smalls Hubbard runs a charity called The Roc, or Renew Our Community.

Dozens of people are there every day to learn job training skills and get spiritual help and emotional support -- but at night, they can't stay there.

"We just don't want people on the street," Smalls Hubbard said. "It's a safety and a humanitarian issue."

Every afternoon, visitors to The Roc get a rider to a local warming shelter.

"These are our neighbors,” Smalls Hubbard said. ‘They are our friends. It's just imperative, as rich as our community is, with churches everywhere, that we take care of those who are less fortunate.”

Bethel United Methodist Church has been bringing in people to stay for 10 years. Rooms that were once used for Sunday school classes are now lined with beds.

Twenty-eight homeless men stay there each night. The church opens the warming shelter from November to March, but the Rev. Emily Sutton worries about the ones who won't show up.

"We always see an increase when temperatures dip down. There are folks that stay on the streets, even during the cold weather," she said.

Early Wednesday morning, temperatures will nosedive into the mid- to upper 20s in York County, and the wind chill will make it feel even colder.

James Thornton found a shelter to sleep at a month ago -- a place called The Haven, which also takes in a few homeless men.

"I had nowhere to go. I called and they had a bed open, so I went there. The people there are great," he said.

Sutton said that because of the need, seven other York County churches have opened their doors as overflow.

Those churches have the facilities and space to house and feed people. On Monday night, 55 men stayed in a warming center.

Hundreds of volunteers pitch in every day and night to make the warming shelters work, including bringing and serving food, as well as donating clothes and shoes.

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